


Seven Kisses

by twizzle



Category: Diese kalte Nacht | This Cold Night - Faun (Song)
Genre: Character Death, Death, F/M, Grief/Mourning, Songfic, Spirits, Trick or Treat 2017, Trick or Treat: Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-24
Updated: 2017-10-24
Packaged: 2019-01-22 14:36:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12483888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twizzle/pseuds/twizzle
Summary: A woman is locked in her room; her beloved asks to be let in.





	Seven Kisses

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Quillori](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quillori/gifts).



The night was cold and no wind blew across the land, but a roaring fire consumed a village and cries of anguish sounded long into the dawn.

Her father came to her with downcast eyes and news of her beloved; he had perished in the blaze. Pain flooded from her eyes and ripped from her throat, and she clung to her father as she wept a tormented lament for the one she had lost.

"This is not something you can weather alone," her father said, "your grief makes you vulnerable, and you have neither the age nor experience with which to fight the spirits that will be drawn to you. I will stay at your side by day, and encircle you with iron to keep the worst at bay; but by night you must be strong."

Bars were placed on her windows, every opening in the walls was filled. Nails were hammered into her door to create a grid of protection for when it closed, and an iron lock secured this cage to keep her safe.

Each night, her father kissed her brow and squeezed her hand.

"Have courage," he said, "be strong."

Then when he left he locked the door behind him.

She had barely noticed them at first, so consuming was her grief. But as her father had warned, spirits came to her. Some hid in the corner of her eye, their entreaties as fractured and garbled as their form. Some came to her boldly, unashamed of what they were and sound in mind and purpose. Most were harmless, or easily dismissed - chased away by the light of a candle, or by the conviction behind her words as she refused them. But in the depths of night when her despair was at its greatest and her heart most lonesome, malign entities both devious and clever visited her cell. Shades stuck to the shadows, dark and foreboding, reached out to her with clawed hands through the bars. They could feel her grief, drew it to them and tore at the waves that eminated from her to feed. They did not need to pass through the bars, so long as their claws could reach to scratch her emotions and dig into her sorrow. Demons of desire and despair whispered to her as they lurked outside her window and beyond her door, beckoning and enticing; they made promises and offered bargains so tempting they made her heart ache and voice break when she refused.

Come dawn, she shivered on her bed, wrapped tight in her blankets and haunted by everything that had assaulted her that night. Sleep came fitfully through the day, and her father comforted her each morning with a strong arm about her shoulders and a reassurance that peace from the spirits would come, in time.

By day she stood out under the grey sky, face turned to the warmth of the sun while frosted grass crunched beneath her feet. The world about her was calm; it gave no sign that it felt as much turmoil as she, and the contrast of the quiet, fair days with her nights left her unsettled.

One night, a week since her beloved had passed, she felt the wind stir.

It began as a whisper, a mournful song hummed through the iron that barred her window. It was a gentle caress on her skin, a cool touch that startled her from the warmth of her room, and the lull she had settled into watching the embers of the fire burn low. She held her breath and waited for the shock of a spectre revealing itself - but none came. Instead, in the stillness, she heard his voice.

_"Open the door for me, let me in; your beloved stands in the moonlight."_

In harmony his words twined with the breeze, the air carrying it to her - it seemed the weather conspired with him to deliver his message. No other spirit had called to her in such a way; none of her nightly visitors had appeared as anything but what they were, and though many had tempted her with visions and voices they had been accompanied by a jarring, unnatural flavour that marked them as false and warned her away.

His voice met her ears and echoed in her mind, calling her through the gap in the window frame. With a misaligned catch, it was never fully closed - something that had long been a frustration but that she now thanked it for. She raced to the window and threw it open, gripped the cold bars, and leant out best she could to see the figure below. 

There, as the wind had told her, stood her beloved. 

Bathed in the light of the moon he seemed almost to glow, with an ethereal shimmer radiating from his form. His face turned up to hers in pleading.

She felt her heart swell. Oh, how she had missed him - and how dreadful the thought had been that she would never seen him again. She rested her forehead against the bars and drank in his appearance, sealing this moment in her memory. He bore no evidence of the fatal burns he had suffered - every part of him was as she remembered, perfectly replicated before her. A flicker of doubt sparked in her mind.

"Is it truly you?" she asked, "Tell me now if you are yet another malignant phantasm who deigns to tempt me."

"It is truly I," he replied, "and it pains me to hear of your suffering." 

She sensed nothing ill in his voice, and all her senses spoke of his legitimacy. None of the terrors had waited back and asked for an invitation - instead they had pushed and clawed and sought to force their way past the physical barriers her father had erected and the mental ones she had constructed in her mind.

"How?" Barely a whisper and spoken with reverence, her disbelief melted and gave way to wonder.

"How could I not? You are worth every journey, even those that transcend death."

"My beloved." Her voice cracked on the word, and she felt the sting of emotion prickle her eyes.

"Open the door for me, let me in."

"My door is barred with an iron lock, and I have no key for it. There is no way to me tonight. Come morn, the way will be open - can you return when the sun has risen?"

He shook his head.

"By chance or design we have been given this night - I fear tomorrow will be too late."

She closed her eyes and felt tears track warmth over her chilled cheeks. She did not wish to refuse him, yet she could not let him in; her heart longed to be reunited but the iron cage kept them apart.

The wind howled in sympathy and rattled her window in its frame. The irregular percussion familiar, she nearly dismissed the sound - but her gaze fell on the latch. A metal bar with a hook on one end dangled where it lay open, and barely held onto the wood; a sharp tug dislodged it from where it had kept its tenuous hold. She examined it, twisting it about as her mind worked.

She was at her door in an instant, latch wielded like a key in trembling fingers. Her breath came short and quick as she knelt by the door, wishing for the lock to be simple, and for luck to guide her hand as she tried to manipulate it with her makeshift lockpick.

Luck, or something else, was on her side.

A smile spread across her face as she bounced back to call to him of her success.

"The way is clear!"

He was with her in moments, his steps silent but his presence tangible as he strode through her doorway and swept her into his arms. She laughed, happiness bubbling as she clung to him until tears erupted. She buried her face into his shoulder and shivered against him, emotions too much to contain. He was there, he was whole; she could almost even believe he was alive.

He held her close and kissed her temple, their embrace a comforting cocoon as he shushed her sobs and smoothed his hands up and down her back to soothe her.

"You're frozen," she commented, once she had calmed.

"It's a cold night," he replied, an indulgent smile on his face and humour in his voice.

She took his head between her hands and placed a kiss on his frigid brow, before stepping out from his arms.

"Come to bed. The blankets are warm, and I will chase away the chill."

He chuckled, low and quiet before he took her hand to press a kiss to her knuckles.

"That you may not be able to, but I shall not refuse you the chance to try."

He kissed her cheek as she fussed over him; her neck as she undressed him; her lips as he pulled her close when they lay together; then again as she fell asleep in his arms. Six times he kissed her, once for each of the nights they had been apart.

The first glimpse of morning that filtered through the bars on her window stirred her into waking. When the room was lit with a gentle glow warmer than the moon, she rested her hand against the side of his face. He was almost warm. She was content, and she thanked everything that had conspired to reunite them. His presence had warned off other spirits, and let her sleep undisturbed; but as her thoughts wandered to the previous nights, she could not help but feel sorrow for the nights that would follow. _"...tomorrow will be too late"_ he had said - how long would it be until he had to leave? Could he ever return to her again?

She startled when his thumb wiped the moisture from her eyes and she willed her sorrow to abate. He looked on her with such open adoration it made her blush, and a question in the tilt of his brows bid her speak.

"I wish this night could last," she said, "I wish we could be together." She wanted to focus on the present, to live in nothing but the moment - not to let their last moments together be coloured by what would be once the sun rose fully from its slumber.

"The dawn cannot be stopped," he replied, "but I know of a way we can be together."

"How?" she asked, desparation rising as she felt their time slip away. "What do we need to do?"

His mouth smiled but his eyes did not.

"Agree to stay with me."

"Always."

He looked to the window, to the sky painted with light as the stars faded.

"When the wind calls, with the moon to light your way, you must follow where it leads."

"But how-"

"It brought me to you last night; trust it, and it will guide you to me." She turned her face to his hand as he stroked her hair in a loving caress before he cupped her cheek. "I will let you in, and we can brave the cold together."

She met his kiss as his lips pressed against hers. With wilful fervour she pulled him against her, and he swallowed her gasp that escaped. She kissed with desparation, concerns of his departure communicated as she poured herself into her passion; he inhailed her breath and tasted her vibrancy, life, and love.

When he broke the kiss he kept his eyes closed, and drew her last sigh into himself. She lay silent, her chest remained still; air no longer passed her lips to make it rise and fall.

In their seventh kiss he stole her breath; it marked the seventh day since he had passed. In seven more he hoped she would be restored in spirit, and sent a silent plea to the wind to watch over her.

He smiled when he felt a breeze caress his face, before the warmth of the sun filtered into the room. Like mist gathered in a valley, he had remained whilst hidden from its reach - but touched by its rays, he faded.

The morning dawned, and the wind blew across the land; it whispered a promise that the lovers would reunite in the moonlight.

**Author's Note:**

> Translated lyrics by Zdenka, found [here](http://lignota.livejournal.com/1040387.html).
> 
> In folklore, an iron fence around a graveyard was thought to prevent spirits escaping - in this case, I thought it could be used the other way around - to keep spirits out.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this! I was so excited to see this song requested, and hope I've done it justice. I wasn't sure whether to label this a trick or treat, but decided on treat due to the optimistic (ish) ending.
> 
> Author's Notes Edited 21/11/17 to include the name of the Translator of the lyrics alongside where I linked to their translation, and to remove the full translation from these notes.


End file.
